Stand-up comedy in New York, opening for Jerry Seinfeld and now a Netflix show. East Idaho native Ryan Hamilton has come a long way from his small town roots.
Ashton and BYU-Idaho
Hamilton grew up in Ashton, Idaho coming to BYU-Idaho for an associate degree in Journalism. It was while at BYU-Idaho he discovered his love for stand-up comedy. Or that he liked to be the one standing up doing comedy anyways.
Growing up he said he felt like he was a quiet kid, who just liked to observe things at a bit of a different angle than most.
“I was never a class clown type of person, but I loved being funny and I loved comedians,” Hamilton told the Scroll’s Rachel Clarke.
Finding the comic strip section in the newspaper was something Hamilton regularly did and from that he decided he wanted to be a journalist.
“I had a radio show,” Hamilton said. “A few of us were interested in comedy and for our little radio shows we decided to do a remote [show] at Craigo’s Pizza, so we did comedy there as a remote.”
He said that was the first time he performed stand-up and after doing the shows at Craigo’s, which later became Pizza Pie Café, he didn’t do any more stand-up until after college.
Advice to Other Comedians
When it comes to comedy, Hamilton said practice is key.
“A lot of it is just doing it, just going for it and trying things, seeing what feels good and what works for you,” Hamilton said. “So, don’t be afraid to just start something.”
His other piece of advice to new comedians, don’t compare yourself.
“If you look at any successful person in any artistic field nobody got there the same way twice, everybody had their own unique path,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton is performing at BYU-Idaho Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hart Gymnasium. Click here for tickets.